It was his plan to invest Rs. 1.5 lakh crore in a petroleum refinery in Ramanathapuram district that brought him under the taxman's scanner.

It was his plan to invest Rs. 1.5 lakh crore in a petroleum refinery in Ramanathapuram district that brought him under the taxman's scanner.

A whopping Rs. 26,000 crore in US bonds was recovered from TM Ramalingam, a local businessman, during an income tax raid on New Year's eve.

He believes that the reason for his newfound notoriety is a brand new Innova that he bought, and an application to the Centre for setting up a refinery at Thondi in Ramanathapuram district, south Tamil Nadu.

Ramalingam, 46, said, "They had come at 8am, spent the entire day, and left at 9pm with some documents. They took the US bonds, which are in my name."

However, the man - who describes himself as a copra dealer who also deals in financial securities and gold - would not say anything more.

"I would not like to make any comment as the case is under investigation," he said.

"I had made several visits to Singapore and the Gulf countries to educate myself on the refinery business," he said.

Ramalingam had sent an application to the Centre six months ago, citing his interest in setting up a mega crude oil refinery.

"I have done nothing illegal and the bonds are mine. I was planning to raise funds for the mega refinery on the strength of the bonds," he added.